Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1897 — DEATH IN A THEATER [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN A THEATER

FIVE KILLED IN A CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE. Ceiling Falls in Robinson's Opera House and Wild Panic Follows— Frenzied Spectators Rush Frantically for the Exits-Children Injured. Hugh Roof Truss Falls. The falling of the ceiling in Robinson’s opera house-Friday evening gave Cincinnati almost a repetition of the horrible accident of ’76, when the cry of fire in the same opera house caused a stampede in the audience and over 100 persons were crushed to death. Friday evening the Holden Brothers Comedy Company was producing “Dangers of a Great City,” and the curtain had just been rung up on the second act, when there was an ominous cracking heard all over the house. A moment later the house was iu total darkness and 200 persons who had been seated in the orchestra chairs were submerged in a mass of plaster and fallen timbers. The list at the hospital shows five dead nnd twenty-six more or less seriously injured. In addition tn these n large number, probably twenty-five or thirty, were so slightly injured as to be able to walk home. The ceiling of the theater was in the shape of a dome, which was formed by rafters rising from walls of the theater and joined in the center of the ceiling by a circular bar of iron. This bar was fastened to the roof of the house by iron rafters, the whole forming the inside shell of the theater. This whole mass was precipitated upon the heads of the 200 spectators. The preliminary cracking and a slight shower of loose plaster gave a short warning, being enough, however, to enable many to get under the seats and thus save themselves. Trampled Upon in the Rush. The gallery, balcony and dress circle were untouched, but the occupants of these, fearing that the worst was yet to come, rushed from the building, and many were crushed and trampled upon as they attempted to get out. Those who escaped severe injury in the orchestra made a rush for the stage, which soon became a mass of struggling humanity, entangled in the ropes and stays of the scenery, which had fallen upon the stage. The cries of those trying to escape and the moans and prayers of the injured were Heartrending. The actors fled from the theater in their stage clothes and escaped injury. All the lights in the theater were extinguished by the breaking of the main electric wire. In five minutes the patrol wagons and as many fire engines and ladder companies were surrounding the theater and a howling mob was rushing about interfering with the work of rescue. While the excitement was at its height and men were cursing and women screaming in their frantic endeavor to escape there came another crash. It was the entire ceiling tearing away from the rafters and tumbling down upon the masses of struggling humanity. It sounded like a terrible whirlwind. The noise was heard for a square around, and hundreds rushed to the front of the theater, but were met 1 and driven back across, the street by the I streams of people rushing from the in--1 side. Hundreds were crushed under foot. Cause of the Disaster. Among the first who entered the building after the dome had fallen was President George W. Rapp of the Cincinnati Chapter, American Institute of Architects. “It was not that dome,” said he, pointing to the huge heap in the center of the floor, “that caused the trouble. The fault ; lies with the roof trusses. The house i has been built more than twenty-five years and the wood has shrunk until the bolts and nails afforded the smallest possible security. One of these trusses had rotted away from its fastenings; it has parted and thrown the two sections down, and they in their descent pulled the dome with them.” The damage to the structure was nothing at all to the stage, comparatively little to the gallery, which suffered most, almost nothing to the dress circle and much less than one would think from the debris scattered through the parquet where the mam truss landed. The truss rested in the parquet very much in the shape of a capital letter “V.” The wonder is that so few were hurt and of the few hurt so many escaped with slight injuries.